The lynchings that killed thousands of people and terrorized generations of blacks in the U.S. are solemnly commemorated in a new memorial in Alabama's capital city. **Warning: Graphic Images** (April 23)
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The Leon County "pillar" at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice at the Equal Justice Institute in Montgomery, Ala.(Photo: Craig Waters)

And, third, some markers serve as subtle daily reminders, things we stop noticing when we pass them every day, but which still imprint a message on our minds.

A marker’s message may be to remember what happened – or to make sure it never happens again.

That’s why we’d like to see, and join in, a community effort to acquire a replica of Leon County’s “pillar” at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and bring it to Tallahassee for permanent display.

These murders are sorted by the counties where they occurred, with victims’ names inscribed on slabs that hang, symbolically, from the ceiling of the somber structure. Nearby, there are replicas of those markers, known as “pillars,” which each county can acquire through a process still being developed by the Equal Justice Institute.

A pedestrian walks through the EJI's National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Ala., on Monday, April 23, 2018. Each column is a monument of lynching victims in different counties throughout the US. Albert Cesare / Advertiser

A person stands at EJI's National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Ala., on Monday, April 23, 2018. Each column is a monument of lynching victims in different counties throughout the US. Albert Cesare / Advertiser

A person stands at EJI's National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Ala., on Monday, April 23, 2018. Each column is a monument of lynching victims in different counties throughout the US. Albert Cesare / Advertiser

One of the pillars shows Robert White. White was also referred to as Robin in many instances. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Ala. on Monday April 23, 2018. Mickey Welsh / Advertiser

The idea of acquiring our county’s marker is not to honor those four murder victims, although their names should be remembered as a terrible part of our history.

The monument represents not only the hideous suffering of the victims, but the inexcusable injustices suffered by thousands of poor – mostly black – people who lived through daily indignities and deprivation of their basic human rights.

It was a common attitude in those times. Simply put, black lives did not matter.

Congress actually debated whether to pass lynching laws, which were long blocked by powerful Southern members who considered lynching a regrettable necessity for maintaining white supremacy – and none of the federal government’s business.

Just as such racist inhumanity in elected leaders seems unimaginable to us now, so does this paper’s callous disregard for an unspeakable crime in our midst. The morning after the two men were abducted from the jail and murdered in 1937 – “by hands unknown,” as official reports were often phrased in those times – The Daily Democrat editorialized that it was “unfortunate.”

“As lynchings go, last night’s was about as free from the usual unsavory angles as any we have heard about,” this paper wrote. “The method adopted was quite orderly, free from violence to police officers and forcible entry to the jail and from torture. But it was illegal and, as such, it cannot be condoned.”

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The morning after the two men were abducted from the jail and murdered in 1937 – “by hands unknown,” as official reports were often phrased in those times – The Daily Democrat editorialized that it was “unfortunate.”(Photo: Dailey Democrat files)

Maybe we ought to print that on a poster in the newsroom. There’s no chance of such a report getting in to the paper today, but like the lynching memorial itself, it's a powerful reminder of how things were once so wrong.

In 2005, former publisher Pat Dorsey and former executive editor Bob Gabordi penned a joint column, apologizing for this paper's past coverage of civil rights, particularly of the bus boycotts, which ranged from insensitive to openly racist.

Owning the newspaper's past has made us more aware of the injustices that persist today. That's something we all need to do.

The EJI application seems designed to prevent some crass commercial exploitation of tragedy, to screen for legitimate church and civic sponsors who want to display their counties’ names in a dignified manner.

The cost of a county replica is not yet known, but it would be a fitting tribute if city and county government joined with the business community, churches and civic organizations to bring home our memorial and create a proper display of this remembrance.